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Drafting/Writing
Pedagogy
One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all,
shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard
what seems like a good idea for a later place . . . give it, give it
all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a
better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more
will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from
beneath, like a well. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have
learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely
and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.
—Annie Dillard
The Writing Life
Writing is generated from the pre-writing stage. The writing that takes place in
the drafting stage is like freewriting in that the student should not yet be focusing
on spelling errors and so forth, but it is, at the same time, very different. Drafting
takes place (ideally!) after the “well” is full. During pre-writing, the student should
have generated ideas and data that may now be applied to the writing process.
If a student has an unusual amount of difficulty creating a draft, he/she may need
to do more pre-writing (to fill the well). It’s important to stress that the three parts
of the writing process are more circular than sequential. For example, pre-writing
techniques may be needed again during the drafting stage and even during the
revision/re-writing stages. Fortunately, computers help to decrease students’
anxiety during the writing process because students know that they can quickly
delete, re-arrange, re-order, and refine their writing once they are finished.
Additionally, the computer offers other techniques that may enhance the
writing/drafting process.
Technology and Drafting
1. Outlining
Word’s outlining feature allows students to order and re-order text, promote
and demote headings, quickly organize material, and collapse the document
so that only first-level, or first and second level (and so forth) headings
appear. In other words, in outline view you can control the level of detail
you’ll see in the document.
To create an outline, select View, Outline (or select the fourth box from the
view boxes at the lower left-hand corner of your workspace). The first text
Drs. Kristi Siegel,, Gene Baer, and Martin Moldenhauer
10/16/99
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you type will automatically be assigned the Heading 1 (or first-level) style.
When you press ENTER, any text entered will also be assigned the Heading
1 style. To assign a different level to the text (e.g., Heading 2 or second level,
Heading 3 or third level, etc.) use the demote (and promote) buttons on your
outlining toolbar. The screen pictured below shows the various options
offered in outline view.
Outline View
Promote/Demote
headings
Move text up or
down
Show different
levels of text
Note: A document may be converted to an outline (even it was not created as
an outline) by selecting each area of text and then applying the appropriate
heading levels (from the Styles’ drop-down menu) located at the far left of
your formatting toolbar (immediately left of the font styles’ box):
Styles box – click on the down
arrow to access the different
styles.
Drs. Kristi Siegel,, Gene Baer, and Martin Moldenhauer
10/16/99
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The Styles’ Drop-Down Menu:
By applying the different headings
(or levels) to various parts of your
document, the document will
convert to an outline when
displayed in Outline View.
2. Using Word’s “Comments” feature for peer review
At any time during the various stages of the writing process, students may
collaborate and offer suggestions on each other’s work by using Word’s
“comments” feature.
The comments only appear when the comments’
feature is turned on; the comments’ will not disrupt the students’ text or
appear when the document is printed. Before having students use the
comments’ feature, make sure they define themselves as a “user” in the
Options’ dialog box so that the student will know who is commenting.
Setting up the Comments’ feature – Becoming a “User” (in a positive
sense, of course):
To enter your own name as the
computer’s “user,” select Tools,
Options. When the Options’ dialog
box appears, click on the User tab in
the upper portion of the dialog box.
Enter your name and initials
here; then, when you make a
comment on another paper,
you will be identified.
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Turning on the Comments’ Feature
• To use the comments’ feature select Insert, Comment. In the split screen
that will appear, you will be able to see the text (being commented on) in
the top panel, and the comments from various peers displayed in the lower
panel:
An essay in Comments’ View
• For those making comments: To enter a new comment, first position
your cursor on the text you’d like to critique. Select Insert, Comment and
type your comment (your name and initials will be added automatically).
• For those reading the comments: To view the comments, position the
pointer over any of the highlighted portions of the text and the comment will
appear. Also, by using the drop-down menu in the Comments’ toolbar (at
the middle of the screen), you may see the comments from all reviewers,
or, by selecting a reviewer’s name, just see the comments of a particular
reviewer.
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• To print the comments, select File, Print and then change the option in the
“Print what:” box (at the lower left-hand corner) to “Comments.”
• To get back to “normal” view (i.e., so that the comments’ panel will be
closed) click on “close” button on the Comments’ toolbar in the middle of
the window.
•
To delete the comments’ highlighting in normal view, right-click on the
highlighting and select “Delete comment,” or simply save the document
under a new name before closing. The original document will not include
comments, but the new document will.
Either way, however, the
highlighting will not appear when the document is printed.
3. Using the Document Map
Word’s Document Map feature, though primarily used as a navigational tool
for longer documents, can also help a writer by providing ongoing prompts.
After a document has been created (that includes headings from the style
menu), clicking on View, Document Map allows you to see all the headings
(and subheadings and sub-subheadings, etc.) in the left panel of your
workplace. Clicking on any one of the headings—even in a very long
document—will immediately advance the text to that point in your document
so that you can add, edit, or simply review that portion of the paper. The
Document Map features also give you a clear overall view of your entire
document. As an example, open the Life After Reveal Codes document on
the diskette provided and then select View, Document Map. Your screen
should look similar to the one pictured below:
Clicking on any of the headings in the left panel will advance the document
displayed in the right panel
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4. Using NiceNet to collaborate or for peer review of drafts
Complete information on using NiceNet is included in the diskette. Briefly,
NiceNet is a free service, offered on the Internet, that allows teachers to set
up private classrooms where messages and assignments may be posted,
discussions may be held, collaboration may take place, etc. The NiceNet
document on your diskette explains what NiceNet is and how to set it up.
NiceNet offers an excellent way for students to provide peer review. A
student can post all or part of his/her paper on NiceNet so that the other
students can provide feedback from any computer that has an Internet
connection. The ability to post critiques during or out of class is more
convenient and less bound by in-class time constraints (many students need
more time than in-class collaboration gives them to come up with good critical
feedback).
5. Using highlighting, bold, asterisks, etc., while drafting to indicate areas
that need further attention
Often, during the writing process students will create a sentence that just
doesn’t work, or reach a point where they aren’t expressing what they want to
say. Rather than dwelling on that bad patch of writing endlessly, students
should “mark” the passage by using Word’s highlighting feature, by using a
different font attribute (such as bold or underlining), or by using asterisks (or
any other symbol) to indicate spots that need more work. Marking areas that
need more work provides reassurance (i.e., the problem will not be forgotten
but it can be fixed later) so that the writing process may continue.
6. Saving as versions
Saving as versions provides a good method for students to make changes
without losing ideas that they may later want to retrieve. Saving as “versions”
also allows others to make comments on each version, allows the student to
comment on the changes he/she
makes in each version, and/or lets
the student observe and compare
differences between the various
versions. To save a document as
a version, select File, Save As,
and then choose Save Version in
the Save Dialog Box.
The
following window will open.
Once the student (or another
reviewer) types in the comments
on the version, click OK.
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Viewing the Versions
To see the various versions of a particular file, choose File, Versions. A
dialog box will open with a listing of all the versions; double-clicking on any of
the versions listed will open it and automatically split the screen to show the
comparison:
Two Versions Open for Comparison
If you have several versions, you can open each one at a time by selecting
File, Versions. Although only two versions will display at a time, you may
switch between versions by using the Windows command on the toolbar and
selecting from the open documents’ list:
Various opened
versions listed
7. Comparing drafts
Whether you’ve saved a document as versions or simply saved a document
using different file names, e.g., Frankenstein1, Frankenstein2, Frankenstein3,
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etc., Word can compare and “mark” the changes between two documents.
To compare two documents, open the first document and then choose Tools,
Track Changes, Compare Documents. A dialog box will open prompting
you to choose what document you’d like to compare with your open
document:
When the second document is opened, a merged version of the two
documents will appear, with the changes shown in red strike-through:
Two Documents (merged) with Changes Marked
Tracking Changes
Additionally, by selecting Tools, Track Changes, Highlight Changes, Word
will show all the changes you make in a current editing session. Then, to
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review a document and accept or reject the changes, select Tools, Track
Changes, Accept or Reject Changes. A prompt box will open so that you
can isolate each change in a document and decide whether to accept or
reject it:
A “tracked”
change that
may now be
accepted or
rejected.
A document being “tracked” to accept or reject changes
Obviously, the techniques used in drafting/writing such as outlining, document
map, comparing documents, saving as versions, highlighting changes, tracking
changes, etc., would also be valuable during the revising and editing process.
Drs. Kristi Siegel,, Gene Baer, and Martin Moldenhauer
10/16/99